Semiconductor devices are used in many electronic and other applications. Semiconductor devices may comprise integrated circuits that are formed on semiconductor wafers. Alternatively, semiconductor devices may be formed as monolithic devices, e.g., discrete devices. Semiconductor devices are formed on semiconductor wafers by depositing many types of thin films of materials over the semiconductor wafers, patterning the thin films of material, doping selective regions of the semiconductor wafers, and other processes.
In a conventional semiconductor fabrication process, a large number of semiconductor devices are fabricated within and/or over a single wafer. After completion of device level and interconnect level fabrication processes, the semiconductor devices within the wafer are separated. For example, the wafer may undergo singulation. During singulation, the wafer is treated, e.g., mechanically, and the semiconductor devices are physically separated to form individual dies. Purely mechanical separation is not space efficient compared to chemical processes. However, chemical separation of small sized dies requires overcoming many difficult process issues.